As anyone who has ever lost a loved one can attest, dealing with the void created with the departure of a parent, grandparent or, God forbid, a child is never easy. The journey itself has ups and downs, moments of intense pain peppered with fond recollections of a shared smile, an inside joke or a… Read More

Last weekend, all eyes were on Pimlico Race Track for the 139th running of the Preakness Stakes. While spectators and news cameras focused on California Chrome winning the second leg of the Triple Crown, they missed the story of renewal and renaissance happening a short distance from the track. The surrounding communities represent the rich… Read More

If only Donald Sterling were as rare a phenomenon in the Jewish community as we would like to think. He merely spoke aloud (albeit in private, or so he thought) what many of us in the Baltimore community think and believe. Since our move here from California 18 years ago, I have never ceased to… Read More

On its face, the conclusion reached in the ADL’s worldwide survey of anti-Semitism is chilling: One-quarter of our species is anti-Semitic — 26 percent to be precise, or 1.09 billion adults, according to the “ADL Global 100,” released last week. ADL calls the report a snapshot of the moment — a baseline against which future… Read More

This week, my youngest child becomes a college graduate. As I head back to her campus for the final time, I can’t help but be stunned at how the years have flown. I think back on the many, many campuses I have toured, and I remember the many questions parents asked such as, “Is there… Read More

Shame on the JT for questioning the integrity of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and its democratic voting process (“Referendum on the Presidents’ Conference,” May 9). The Conference of Presidents has sent a clear message by refusing to accept J Street as a member. The message: J Street is unworthy of… Read More

A youthful nation and growing economic powerhouse, India has long been forging strong business relations with Israel. Those ties are expected to grow stronger following last week’s landslide election of India’s conservative Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and its leader Narendra Modi. As chief minister of Gujarat state in Western India, Modi, 63, oversaw a… Read More

Issachar Friedman contends that the choice for Israel lies between “nuanced ‘land for peace” or the “hawkish territorialism and revanchist one-state” ZOA agenda (Your Say, April 24). The ZOA does not support a one-state agenda, as Friedman would know if he examined our website and publications. Rather, we presently oppose creating a Palestinian state, because… Read More

What is the truest definition of freedom? I believe that an exploration of a difference of interpretation between two Talmudic sages on a phrase in our Torah portion will shed a great deal of light on this fundamental existential question. Commenting on the verse that submits that if the nation walks in God’s ways, He… Read More

The last time (and it was the very last time) I attended services at Beth Tfiloh, I listened to Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg’s “sermon” praising then presidential Republican candidate John McCain while denouncing Democratic candidate Barack Obama. Now I read that Beth Tfiloh recently hosted right-wing Fox News commentator Charles Krauthammer, warmly introduced by Rabbi Wohlberg… Read More